1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bulletin board services on computer networks and, more specifically, this invention relates to on-line bulletin board services having object-oriented file handling features.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Bulletin board services, or BBSS, are systems that allow users to post and download public messages. These bulletin board services normally have many different file libraries and discussion groups so that clients can communicate with one another through an on-line connection. In addition, bulletin board services can be provided as part of large on-line networks such as the Microsoft.RTM. Network (MSN).
For example, CompuServe, America On-Line, Prodigy and many other large network systems have bulletin board services as integrated features. Users of these network systems can post messages to various groups within the bulletin board service so that many different clients can read their message. For example, a client may post a message to the bulletin board service requesting information on a particular software program. Other users of the network service will read this message and can respond by posting messages of their own which include an answer. All of these messages are publicly available and can usually be read by any user.
Since a large number of users can post thousands of messages, the bulletin board service is divided into separate groups based on different subjects. For example, one group may contain discussions of computer software, while another group may be for discussions of classical music. The bulletin board service that is provided within the Internet contains thousands of various discussion groups on a wide range of issues.
Aside from posting messages to a bulletin board service, many users also exchange computer programs and data files by posting them to the publicly available BBS along with their messages. In this manner, the posted software is available to potentially millions of other clients who can download and retrieve the posted data file. Many different types of shareware files are distributed this way through a BBS.
Unfortunately, many bulletin board systems do not have convenient file handling capabilities. Within many systems, a client wishing to post a file must send a message that includes directions for finding the file within the BBS and then separately upload the data file. One example of a direction within this type of message might be to look for the file within a particular download directory in the online network. This method of sending and retrieving files is very inconvenient because it requires the client to first read the posted message and then switch programs to search a file download directory to find the desired program.
Other bulletin board systems embed the shareware file within the message itself. For example, a data file can be inserted within the body of the BBS message after being encoded with a program such as UUENCODE. The encoding software converts the data file into characters that can be inserted into the body of the message. The encoded data file is transmitted as if it was text within the message. If a user wishes to download the program, the entire message, containing the encoded file is sent to the client's computer where the program can be decoded from the message and saved to the client's hard disk. Unfortunately, this system forces the user to transfer an enormous file along with any message. There is no provision for first reading the message and then determining to download the file or not. In some cases, these large messages may take up to an hour to download to the client computer.
Other types of computer programs, such as electronic mail (Email) systems allow users to embed objects within the mail messages. One such system is the Microsoft.RTM. Mail program. However, Email programs such as Microsoft.RTM. Mail do not allow files to be selectived downloaded through a publicly accessible location on a computer network. Furthermore, the Internet community has submitted a proposal for a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME, RFC 1521) to allow direct embedding of various data typed files in messages. However, such a system requires the raw data to be encoded before uploading to the network and, in addition, the size of the message is of the same order as the data being embedded. For all of the above reasons, a need exists for a bulletin board system which has convenient file handling capabilities.